Archive for the ‘Trade Shows’ Category

Paul Frost is a U.S. Commercial Service Commercial Officer and currently serves as Deputy Team Leader for the Global Financial Services Team.

According to Finnovista, an impact platform improving access to digital finance through the acceleration and cross-pollination of ideas, organizations and emerging talents, Brazil is home to the largest number of FinTech startups in Latin America. Highlighting this trend, the U.S. Commercial Service is partnering with Finnovista and PHM International to host a certified Trade Mission for U.S. investors, incubators, and FinTech companies in São Paulo, Brazil on September 17-19, 2018.

The FinTech Roadshow to Brazil provides an excellent opportunity for U.S. firms to promote their business and connect with leading companies in Brazil’s FinTech and financial sectors. U.S. participants will have the opportunity for several one-on-one meetings with executives from pre-qualified, vetted Brazilian FinTech and financial companies, startups, insurance companies, and other relevant institutions.

Brazil is #1 in Latin America for money transfers and savings, and has seen 188 new startups in the past 18 months. If that isn’t enough to get you thinking about doing business in Brazil, check out our top five benefits for joining this Certified Trade Mission:

Meet one-on-one in private, pre-qualified meetings with companies convened by the U.S. Consulate

The same level of meetings would likely require a minimum of two to three trips to meet the same number of high-level professionals. This is a major advantage and a significant savings in time, expenses and opportunity cost. And as the old adage goes: “Time is Money.”

Full contact information on all qualified Brazilian attendees

There is a cost in time and energy involved in identifying prospects, securing contact information, contacting prospects, convincing them to meet and then coordinating the schedule in an efficient manner. A major benefit to the FinTech Roadshow trade mission is that everything takes place in one day and all pre-qualified and vetted Brazilian FinTech companies come to you.

Briefing by U.S. Embassy and Brazilian experts

The U.S. Consulate is the “convener of stature” for the FinTech Roadshow to Brazil trade mission which lends a prestige to the event, helps guarantee the quality of the attendees, and limits the attrition prior to the event.

No commissions or sales generated from Trade Mission

There are no commissions charged on any deal – investment, partnership, or sale you generate from the trade mission – ever.

Last, but not least, a networking reception at the U.S. Consulate General Residence in São Paulo

This speaks for itself. You will have the opportunity to network with the movers and shakers, i.e., key decision makers in your industry.

Steven Meyers is the Director of Outreach and Communications for SelectUSA

The annual SelectUSA Investment Summit brings global business investors and economic developers together under one roof to spark job-creating foreign direct investment (FDI) deals. But beyond the four (large) walls of the 79,000-sq.-ft. Exhibition Hall, the core function of the Investment Summit is matchmaking, which happens digitally…and seamlessly. Next month, attendees will have access to a dynamic and user-friendly matchmaking platform, which is included with registration.

Most importantly, the platform—available via desktop and mobile app—will allow attendees to share information with other users, including meeting requests, exchanging virtual business cards, and searching for opportunities.

Digital matchmaking at last year’s Investment Summit played a critical role in bringing investors and economic developers together. Matchmaking at the Investment Summit – which featured more than 2,200 scheduled meetings – laid the foundation for job-creating investment projects across the country. One of those projects, a $100 million, 400-job distillery in New York, was borne out of talks between Romanian company Alexandrion and Empire State Development. Another, Takigawa Corp. Japan’s 180-job manufacturing plant in Bardstown, Kentucky, came about as a direct result of SelectUSA meetings at the 2017 Investment Summit.

We hope for more projects like these to be launched at the 2018 SelectUSA Investment Summit. If you are part of a U.S. economic development organization or an international company considering the United States as its next investment location, we encourage you to register for the top FDI event in the country. SelectUSA invites you to join us in June. Invest, grow, and succeed in the United States.

The 2017 SelectUSA Investment Summit included more than 2,000 scheduled individual matchmaking meetings between businesses and economic development officials.

The SelectUSA Investment Summit brings the worlds of foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic development together—all under one roof. Attendees will hear from senior U.S. government officials and Cabinet secretaries, executives from some of the world’s top companies, and economic thought leaders at the forefront of a changing global economy.

It all happens again on June 20-22, 2018, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in the Washington, D.C. area.

Past Investment Summit participants have announced more than $71 billion in new investment projects. These projects have created or retained more than 110,000 U.S. jobs. Among those jobs will be nearly 400 in New York, where Romanian distiller Alexandrion is opening a facility. In Kentucky, Japanese manufacturer Takigawa will employ 180 people after making connections at the Investment Summit. MIG Neurons and sRs McCoy are among the Indian companies that have moved into soft landing facilities in Maryland and New Jersey after making connections at the Investment Summit.

SelectUSA received highly positive feedback from international business attendees at the 2017 SelectUSA Investment Summit:

“The SelectUSA Investment Summit far exceeded my expectations. The event was well worth the investment … I was impressed by the quality of the connections made and the value my firm received as an exhibitor.”

“This is the place to be if you are considering starting a business in the United States.”

“The Investment Summit is absolutely the right forum for launching a new business in the U.S. The value of getting a large number of states and economic development agencies on one floor is priceless.”

“The benefit of attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit is direct, immediate, and purposeful contact with municipal, state, and federal personnel.”

We expect to continue delivering for potential business investors at the 2018 SelectUSA Investment Summit. Last year’s Investment Summit drew a record number of participants, including more than 600 economic developers from 52 U.S. states and territories.

International business investors utilized the online matchmaking platform to schedule face-to-face meetings with American economic developers. In the 79,000-sq.-ft. Exhibition Hall, these investors saw what dozens of U.S. states, counties, cities, territories, and regions had to offer.

There is simply no better place to connect to the economic development community than at the Investment Summit.

Don’t miss your chance to connect with EDOs from across the United States. Join us at the SelectUSA Investment Summit. For more information, please visit selectusasummit.us.

It’s already that time of year again: our team is gearing up for the next SelectUSA Investment Summit. On June 20-22, 2018, the SelectUSA team will join thousands of international business investors, economic developers, and service providers at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center to convene the highest-level event of its kind in the United States.

This past June, SelectUSA held its largest Investment Summit yet. Hosted by Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and headlined by Secretaries Alexander Acosta (Labor), Steven T. Mnuchin (Treasury), and Rick Perry (Energy), as well as the UK Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox, the 2017 Summit brought more than 2,800 international participants together. The 79,000-sq.-ft. Exhibition Hall was filled to capacity with economic development organizations from 51 U.S. states and territories. CEOs from prominent U.S. and foreign companies participated in armchair discussions and breakout sessions to discuss the latest developments in FDI. I encourage you to read my summary blog post here for more details.

Of course, none of this happened overnight; planning for this important event is neither quick nor simple. Our team spends many months fine-tuning and developing ideas into reality. We are dedicated to bringing high quality discussions and influential thought leaders and executives to the Summit every year. Next year will be no exception, and we want to ensure that it is not only relevant, but full of information that can be instantly used to increase investment in the United States.

The SelectUSA team is planning the plenary and breakout sessions, Investment Academy, Exhibition Hall, and more. There are a lot of exciting developments in the pipeline, but we want you to be involved as well! Indeed, much of the content of previous Summits came from proposals from our stakeholders and partners across the fields of economic development and FDI.

So, we want to hear from you. What are your ideas for topics that should be covered? Do you have a speaker in mind? Is there a subject that needs to be included? The Call for Proposals is live; let us know what should be included in the program.

Additionally, we are looking to fill the Summit events calendar with collateral and spin-off events, hosted by our friends in the economic development community. These events are often where new job-creating investments begin, and we want to build on the success of last year’s calendar. SelectUSA welcomes your input and we want to make the 2018 Summit our best yet.

The International Trade Administration’s (ITA) Global Marine Technology Team has been working since 2010 to help grow U.S. exports of marine technology. This specialized team helps U.S. marine technology companies take advantage of worldwide sales opportunities and engage in partnerships with U.S. maritime industry leaders. A mutual interest to support U.S. marine technology exports has forged a notable Strategic Partnership between ITA and The Maritime Alliance (TMA) that is yielding big wins for small businesses.

TMA, a non-profit industry association based in San Diego and an ITA Strategic Partner since 2014, represents one of the largest marine technology communities in the United States and the world. TMA promotes sustainable, science-based ocean and water industries to create jobs and encourage the development of marine or ‘blue’ technology. TMA and ITA collaborate on education, policy and technology resources, information sharing, networking, and outreach to promote innovation and economic development to expand the blue economy.

TMA used this funding to launch the first U.S. Maritime Technology Export Initiative (USMTEI) – a three-year project supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in their trade promotion endeavors. Through USMTEI, funding goes directly to U.S. companies to offset the total cost of participation in trade events by up to 50 percent.

Arizona-based firm Hydronalix demos its technology during the Rotterdam stop of the trade mission.

In 2017, USMTEI supported U.S. companies at three separate events: the inaugural Oceanology International North America trade show in San Diego, Ocean Business in Southampton, UK, and a trade mission to Europe.

Oceanology International North America attracted 3,100 visitors, 161 exhibitors, and conference delegates from 39 U.S. states and 46 countries. TMA organized 75 business-to-business matchmaking meetings between USMTEI companies and potential foreign partners. To complement the matchmaking program, ITA trade specialists working in European, Latin American, and Asian markets participated in nine export counseling meetings with USMTEI companies and conducted more than 25 additional individual consultations with other U.S. companies at the show. In addition, ITA organized a conference session highlighting marine technology opportunities in Brazil, Denmark, Mexico and Singapore, and assisted TMA in recruiting potential foreign buyers to the show.

Ocean Business and the trade mission to Europe showcased export programs, business-to-business matchmaking, and policy discussions between TMA and its European counterparts. A total of 11 U.S. SMEs participated in both activities, and each company benefitted from the trade leads obtained at the events.

Mark Gundersen, President and CEO of Marine Advanced Research commented, “TMA and ITA exceeded my expectations with the USMTEI. We had a packed schedule before, during, and after Ocean Business, meeting with companies and organizations in our industry. You would be hard pressed to find another way to open as many doors in such a short amount of time.”

While Rusty Jehangir, Founder of Blue Robotics, said “As a young, small business, the programs offered by USMTEI, TMA and ITA provided us with an invaluable opportunity to reach new customers and companies.”

As for the future of the USMTEI, TMA intends to support 12-16 U.S. companies to exhibit in the U.S. BlueTech Pavilion at Oceanology International 2018 in London, and lead a follow-up trade mission to Europe.

Attendees tour the USA Pavilion at the Guangzhou International Lighting Expo (GILE) trade show, where there was record high attendance at this ITA Trade Fair Certified event.

Chinese customers and U.S. lighting product and service providers flooded the U.S. Pavilion at this year’s Guangzhou International Lighting Expo (GILE) trade show, reflecting the record high attendance at this ITA Trade Fair Certified event. For the U.S. lighting companies exhibiting at GILE, the U.S. Pavilion provided a critical nexus for networking, business-to-business meetings, lighting industry expert presentations on growth segments in China’s lighting market, and ITA export counseling.

U.S. lighting products, known for their quality and performance, are strongly competitive in China. While China’s overall imports of lighting declined at an annualized rate of -5.7 percent during 2011-2016, its imports of lighting from the United States grew at a healthy 2.9 percent annualized rate during this period. The U.S. share of China’s lighting import market has grown from 5.1 percent in 2011 to 7.8 percent in 2016. China reported lighting imports from the world of $2.1 billion in 2016, down from $2.8 billion five years earlier.

The total U.S. lighting export portfolio to the world was $3.1 billion in 2016. China is the third largest market for U.S. lighting product exporters, behind Canada and Mexico. While China receives only 3.5 percent of overall U.S. lighting product exports, it is a growth market for U.S. exporters. U.S. exports to China have grown at an annualized rate of just under 4 percent over the last five years. This growth far outstrips the 1.6 percent annualized growth of the $3.1 billion overall U.S. lighting product export portfolio during the same period.

The United States imported more than $11.3 billion in lighting products from the world in 2016, including $6.2 billion from China. China is by far the largest source of lighting product imports with a 55.2 percent U.S. import market share. This market share has remained fairly consistent since 2011, when China held 55.8 percent of a smaller U.S. lighting import market of $7.7 billion. The United States has a trade deficit in lighting products with the world that grew at an annualized rate of 11 percent between 2011 and 2016, standing at $8.3 billion at the end of that period. The U.S. trade deficit with China in lighting products likewise has grown from $4.2 billion in 2011 to $6.1 billion in 2016, reflecting a 7.8 percent annualized growth rate during that period.

Exhibitors presenting in the U.S. Pavilion, including McWong, Luminit and Alpha Assembly Solutions, emphasized Chinese lighting market demand trends that suggest continued strong competitiveness for U.S. products that enable interconnectivity, interoperability, and sophisticated control technologies. American companies can further improve their competitiveness by improving lighting efficiency and power through the use of high-purity materials and precision-engineered materials substrates, both hallmarks of U.S. products.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Trade Fair Certification program is a cooperative partnership arrangement between private sector show organizers and the U.S. government to increase U.S. exports and to expand U.S. participation in overseas trade shows.

By Anne Driscoll, Assistant Secretary for Industry & Analysis and Tom McGinty, National Director for U.S. Operations, U.S. Commercial Service

No matter what business you’re in, chances are that as an exporter you use U.S. and international trade shows and industry or market-focused workshops, seminars, and conferences as part of your marketing mix. As the federal agency primarily responsible for international trade matters, ITA understands this and works to fulfill the needs of companies that export with an eclectic mix of events.

Major Trade Shows

At 25 or more major U.S. industry shows every year, ITA provides export experts who counsel, offer market briefings, and connect U.S. exhibitors to international buyers. The International Buyer Program adds significant value to your trade show experience. While you’re working hard to connect with buyers at your booth, ITA brings the connections, information, and expertise to you. To see which shows are participating in the International Buyer Program this year, visit export.gov/ibp.

Export-focused, U.S.-based In-person Events

These events address common exporter interests and offer expert, on-site trade counseling and export education. Some events are short, single-topic events; others cover the full spectrum of international trade issues. Typical shorter in-person events include “export 101,” “e-commerce” or “export compliance” workshops. Full-scale conferences like the U.S.-based Discover Global Markets and internationally based Trade Winds series offer an industry or regional focus and come with a wide spectrum of activities including one-on-one appointments with U.S. commercial diplomats based overseas; business-to-business matchmaking meetings with foreign buyers; briefings that relate to particular industry export issues; and plenty of opportunities for networking with fellow exporters, export service providers, and U.S. and foreign government officials. To find out more about in-person events, visit export.gov/discoverglobalmarkets OR export.gov/tradewinds.

Trade Missions

These events bring U.S. companies to international markets to explore and pursue export opportunities by meeting directly with potential buyers, partners, or distributors in their sector. Trade Missions capitalize on the extensive connections and expertise of ITA staff worldwide, and can typically accommodate 10-25 companies. Missions offer meetings with pre-screened foreign buyers; networking with local industry multipliers; market briefings from ITA and local business and government experts; and site visits. Mission participation is by application and selection, and you can get more information about how the process works at export.gov/trade-missions.

Webinars

These are free, quick, easy ways to get up to speed on a variety of topics and hear from government and private sector experts. ITA sponsors webinars every month and topics range from export compliance to cybersecurity and market entry tips. Webinars are also typically held prior to in-person events and can help exporters learn more before committing to participation. For more information about ITA webinars visit export.gov/webinars.

For general exporting information and resources or to find an office near you, visit export.gov/services.